MidLu Week
by anime-fan72
Summary: My submissions for MidLu Week. Dates: 10/25-10/31. Rated T for safety (paranoia).
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Here's my contribution to MidLu Week, created by the incredible GemNika and Little Princess Nana! Info on the prompts can be found on their profiles. (I'm a day late, but life gets in the way of our best laid plans sometimes.) This shall be part of an AU where Fairy Tail was not disbanded after the events of Tartaros and Crime Sorciere was pardoned and recognized as a legal guild. It will build to MidLu, but for this prompt at least, they're still just friends. Here's Day 1: Birthday.**

 **Disclaimer: As always, Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.**

Lucy sighed softly as she left the guild. She loved her friends, and it found it very sweet that they threw a party for her, but the chaos from mixing Fairy Tail, Sabertooth, Blue Pegasus, Quatro Cerberus, and Crime Sorciere was a little too much, even for the blonde's high tolerance. She had stayed at the guild for five hours before she had to call it quits. Being hit by no less than seven chairs and two tables from the even larger than usual celebratory brawl made her want to unleash Scary Lucy, except that doing so would completely ruin her mood. Not like she was in such a stellar mood to begin with (no pun intended).

Lucy was very grateful to her friends for distracting her for a while, even getting her to smile a few times and laugh once, but she needed some time away from them today. This would be her first birthday without Aquarius, and the loss of her oldest friend stung more than usual.

With a loving glance back to her rambunctious guild, she made her way home, balancing along the edge of the canal and waving greetings to the fishermen. Once she arrived at her apartment, she unlocked the door, walked in, kicked off her favorite heeled boots with a groan, and slammed the door behind her.

"Well someone's grumpy today," a voice remarked from the dark room. Lucy glared blindly as she located the light switch and flipped it on, bathing her living room with light and revealing her intruder.

"What do you want, Midnight? I'm really not in the mood for company right now." The blonde rubbed her eyes tiredly and shuffled towards her bedroom. Her progress was halted by the red-eyed man as he grabbed her arm and turned her towards him. He scrutinized her for what seemed like forever to the Celestial mage before letting go and pushing her back into motion.

"Go. Put on some pjs and then come back here. I'll make the hot chocolate and popcorn." She blinked in surprise before smiling at him affectionately. Somehow, ever since they first struck up their unlikely friendship, Midnight had always been able to read Lucy's emotions and come up with the best activities to complement, or remedy, them. Movie nights with the two cuddled on her couch was the standard solution to the days when she struggled to get out of bed, the despair of loss weighing her down.

As she followed his instructions to change, Lucy thought back over the entirety of their friendship. They had begun by bonding over makeup and the difficulties of having idiot Dragon Slayers as partners (both Cobra and Natsu took offense over that, but quickly proved Midnight and Lucy right by starting a brawl... right next to Erza's strawberry cake). Also, Midnight claimed the blonde was the only semi-quiet one in all of Fairy Tail, therefore the only one worth spending time with, when Crime Sorciere came to visit (which it did often as Jellal and Erza awkwardly flirted with each other, Cobra and Kinana became best friends once more, and Hoteye, Angel, and Meredy joined Mira in matchmaking). After a few months, the two started meeting up outside of the guild, mostly at Lucy's apartment, and their friendship solidified into what it was now.

Lucy exited her room and her eyes lit up at the sight of her coffee table spread with the requisite snacks and the previews already starting on her lacrima television. Midnight patted the spot next to him in invitation and she made her way over without hesitation. Snuggling into his side and pulling the throw blanket over them, she turned her eyes onto the screen and busied her mouth with her cup of chocolate, delighting in its sweet warmth. This was exactly what she needed, a night relaxing with one of her best friends, no pressure to be the bubbly blonde she usually was. She felt Midnight's arm settle around her and give a gently squeeze.

"Happy birthday Lucy."


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Two updates in one day? Shocking (to me at least). Happy reading! Here's Day 2: Clock.**

 **Disclaimer: Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail**.

Lucy was curled up in the corner of her bedroom when he found her. The normally pristine room was literally covered in the blonde's entire wardrobe and she seemed to be in the midst of a panic attack, mumbling arguments for and against different outfits. Thankfully, she reacted when he lightly shook her shoulder and she looked up at him, tears shining in her eyes. In the next moment, he found his arms filled with her shaking body as she wailed about some "royal ball the princess had invited her to" and her clothes "not being good enough to stand up to the scrutiny of those rich bastards she grew up with" and "how was she going to find a date who wouldn't embarrass her but that her brothers would allow to accompany her?"

Oh, the most important thing being, of course, time. The ball was the next day, and she was nowhere near prepared. Then again, panicking was not helping her any. So, he carefully disentangled himself from her and wiped away the tear tracks on her cheeks.

"Better?" he asked patiently.

Lucy nodded as she calmed herself down. "Thanks for that, Midnight. I think I was about to explode if I didn't let it out soon. But what am I going to do? None of my clothes are good enough for a royal ball, not when all of the 'high society' assholes are going to be doing their best to trip me up at every step. Clothes are so important for good impressions, but my fancy dresses are too last season! Not to mention Natsu, Gray, Laxus, and Cobra are all off-limits as dates, they'd all find ways to embarrass me, and they would never let me go with anyone else!"

Midnight rubbed his forehead lightly at the information overload. "Well, let's take it one step at a time, okay? Freaking out over all the things you have yet to do isn't going to get them completed faster. It just wastes the time you have. And according to those wails you letting out earlier, we have..." He glanced at the clock on her bedside table. "About eighteen hours to get you ready for this ball. Starting with clothes, can't you just ask Virgo for something? I'm sure she'd love to dress you up."

Lucy beamed at him. "You're right! Virgo always makes the best clothes! Why didn't I think of that myself?"

"Too busy throwing a fit over having to rub elbows with the upper-class shits," he replied with a yawn. He had not appreciated being woken up by a stuttering Natsu whose only coherent statement had been that something was wrong with Lucy and Midnight would be best at helping her. Just because he was called Midnight did not mean that he was always awake at that hour. He preferred to sleep through the day and the night when he could, and having his sleep interrupted by a Dragon Slayer who managed to be even more annoying than his partner was aggravating to say the least.

Lucy ignored him as she called out her Maid Spirit. Virgo had, as she had done in the past, foreseen her Mistress's desires and had a beautiful gown, shoes, accessories, and underclothes already prepared. "Punishment, Princess?"

"Not today, Virgo. Thank you for the clothes. They're just beautiful." Lucy's eyes were glued to the handiwork of her Spirit, missing the masochistic gleam that flashed through Virgo's eyes. Midnight eyed the pinkette warily until she vanished in golden sparkles, remembering the stories Cobra had told him of that one's soul. So strange...

"So now, what? You just need a date? Well, I can see why Natsu and Cobra are banned. They'd never be able to behave, what with Natsu's appetite and Cobra's mouth. Gray would start stripping, so he's out too. But why not Laxus? He is supposedly next in line for Guild Master and he at least has a sense of manners."

The blonde shook her head, frowning thoughtfully. "No, he would never be able to put up with the veiled insults and backhanded compliments tossed at me. He would blow up trying to defend my honor. I'd ask Freed, as he knows how to behave himself and could potentially gain the approval of my brothers, but he and Cana are having 'private time' this week. And don't even try to suggest Jellal. Even if it was just platonic, Erza would still kill me."

Midnight's mouth snapped shut as that had been his next suggestion. Huffing in frustration, he instead proposed, "How about you make a list of guys who could get the approval to 'protect' you, and go from there?"

"Good idea! Hmm, there's Bickslow, but he can't come since he literally cannot keep his mouth shut... Rogue, but Sting would get all whiny and I can't leave Yukino without some sort buffer between her and that blonde idiot... you, of course... Wait!" Her eyes suddenly gleamed mischievously and an all too innocent smile grew on her face. "Midniiight."

A shiver ran down his spine. That look did not bode well for him. "No." He shook his head vigorously. "No. Absolutely not. I am not escorting you to this hellhole. Take Rogue. If I have to, I'll lock Sting in an Illusion and look after Yukino myself."

"Please, Midnight," she whined, pulling her patented puppy eyes and pout, letting her lower lip tremble just a bit. "It starts in seventeen hours, and it's a five hour train ride. The party should last, at most, seven hours, but to be polite, we only have to stay for four. You can even time it! Please?"

He closed his eyes and shook his head one more time. He had lost the fight the moment she pulled that face on him. She knew he could not deny her anything when she did that, and she was using it against him. "Fine. And you can expect me to be timing it. But you owe me big for this. As in letting me experiment on you big."

Lucy hesitated for a moment, the thought of Midnight experimenting with her hair and makeup nearly making her withdraw, but she pressed forward. Midnight would have Cancer's help, too, as her Crab Spirit had struck up a very good friendship with Midnight over ideas to change Lucy's look. Their ideas were imaginative, to say the least. No one would have blamed her if she refused, but she was not a Fairy Tail mage for nothing. Questionable sanity came with the territory. "Deal!" Start the clock to her certain death via humiliating makeup now.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: I'd love to write the ball scene related to Day 2, but it'd require more writing time than I have on my hands at the moment (maybe as a bonus chapter). Instead, have one of Midnight's "experiments" on Lucy, even though I'm not very happy with how this turned out. It feels awkward and choppy. Oh well, there's always next time. Once again, I'm a day late, but life is not very forgiving to my muse. Day 3: Pin-Up.**

 **Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.**

Lucy regretted ever making that deal with the demon. He had held up his side of the deal quite well, but what he wanted in return was just too much. Just because she had a Spirit who could cut and grow her hair to any length did not give Midnight free reign to try out every single possibility. She liked the length she kept her hair at. It was not too long, so it was manageable, but it was still long enough to style if she chose to.

"Midnight, are you done yet?" she whined. She had been sitting on a kitchen chair for over two hours as her best friend and Spirit messed with her hair and makeup. Every time they seemed to be done, one of them found something that needed fussing over.

"Just... wait..." The blonde felt something tug lightly on the back of her head, and suddenly she felt a burst of cold air on her neck. Shivering lightly, she realized she could no longer feel her hair on her shoulders. "Done! You can look now."

Lucy rushed from the kitchen to her bedroom and the full mirror attached to her closet door. Before she could reach the mirror though, Virgo popped out of nowhere and held out a tiny red dress and matching heels. "Here, Princess. To complete the look."

"Oh. Thank you, Virgo. You didn't have to do that." She accepted the clothes and, checking that she had not been followed by Midnight or Cancer, she pulled the outfit on. The dress was stretchy, but clung to her every curve, and the shoes were surprisingly comfortable considering how tall the heels were. Once finished to her satisfaction, Lucy completed her journey to the mirror, but once she was in front of it, she lost the ability to string together a coherent thought, let alone speak.

"Punishment, Princess?" Lucy noticed the devious glint in her Spirit's eyes, but even then, the temptation to take the pinkette up on her offer was easily overcome. It was not Virgo's fault that her best friend had lost his mind. Though she had a feeling that somehow Taurus (and maybe Loke) had influenced Cancer into suggesting this particular look, it was still Midnight's fault for agreeing. He should have known better than to dress her up like this.

"So, what do you think? It's pretty authentic, right?" The sound of his voice snapped Lucy from her daze and woke her, admittedly easy to provoke, anger. Her friend must be insane to ever think she would have something nice to say about this.

"What the hell, Midnight?! I know that I agreed to sit through some of your experiments, but this?! I look like a slut from seventy years ago!" Her blonde hair had been cut into a pixie-esque cut and curled while her makeup made her eyelashes seem miles long and her lips cherry-red, matching the dress and heels from Virgo. All in all, it was a look she would never have chosen by herself, and certainly would never have let anyone else seen her in. Well, she could appreciate how the dress complimented her body, showing off plenty of cleavage with its sweetheart neckline, but looking at it in the mirror, it was far too short, barely brushing the tops of her thighs.

"Not a slut. Well, not only sluts dressed like this. If Cancer got the history from Grandpa Crux right, it's called 'pin-up' and it was a popular way of promoting dancers as well as its use in propaganda in the early 700s." Disappointment briefly flashed across his face, before he hid his feelings behind a blank face. "It was just an idea we tried playing around with. If you really hate it so much, we can just move on to the next one."

Guilt welled up in her at the sight of Midnight's face. She had told him early on in their friendship that he did not need to use that blank mask around her, that she respected and valued his feelings. With an internal sigh, knowing that if this got out that her friends would never let her live it down (especially if Cana got her hands on it), she shook her head. "No, Midnight, I'm sorry. That was too harsh. It's out of my comfort zone, but it doesn't look bad. You did an incredible job with the makeup, and you'll have to teach the tricks you used to make my eyelashes this long. Um, and how about you take a photo with my camera for... Well, because why not?"


End file.
